Today is World IPv6 Day – Are You In?

Across the globe, organizations have come together today at the World IPv6 Launch to mark a milestone in unique fashion: Turning on and permanently enabling IPv6 networks for their products and services.

According to the recent CiscoVisual Networking Index (VNI), there will be nearly two-and-a-half networked devices for every person on the planet – roughly 19 billion connected devices by 2016. It’s not only people that are being connected, but also machines. Two billion M2M (machine to machine) connections are expected by 2015. Not surprisingly, global IP traffic has increased eightfold over the past five years and will increase threefold over the next five. To support the proliferation of devices that are transforming businesses and lifestyles, enterprises and service providers are adopting IPv6-enabled networks.

Anyone who has taken the road to IPv6 knows it’s not about flipping a switch. Many things need to be in order beforehand, and it takes expertise and planning to understand the manifold contingencies and then ensure a smooth migration to IPv6 – while also preserving existing IPv4 investments.

A comprehensive, phased migration to IPv6 should cover:

Gathering your technical and business requirements for implementation – from infrastructure and servers, to applications, storage, and more

Determining if your network assets are IPv6-ready

Identifying potential challenges during the transition

Developing a detailed design for your IPv6 network devices

Planning for the implementation of IPv6 in your lab, pilot network, and production networks

Determining additional changes that might be needed to support your IPv6 strategy

Cisco teams have helped customers plan for and manage the transition to IPv6 for more than a decade, and Cisco just launched its new IPv6-Ready Internet Edge Service as part of that Services portfolio.

Let me tell you more about getting started on this journey, with a trusted adviser:

With IPv6, the Internet is turning another page in a remarkable story. Are you in?

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